Many families approach Christmas with dread due to many different reasons such as loneliness, lack of money, stress, to name a few. These difficulties are exaggerated by the pressure put on parents to provide extravagant gifts for their children. In many households, even a basic gift for the children is out of their reach.
The ‘Giving Tree’ is a project run by the SVP whereby the public are invited to buy a new toy for a child in need. The project has the duel benefit of bringing joy to children and relief to parents, as well as connecting the giver in a real way to a disadvantaged child. The Society of St. Vincent de Paul guarantees that these gifts will be delivered to those who most need them before Christmas, bringing the joy of the festive season to homes that would otherwise be without this special feeling which Christmas brings.
This year sees the SVP in the Cork Region celebrate its twelfth year providing the ‘Giving Tree’! The event runs for three weeks from the beginning of December.
The ‘Giving Tree’ will be manned by SVP Volunteers throughout the pre-Christmas shopping season. People take a tag containing the name and age of a child and buy that specific child a present. It is a very immediate way of helping children in need. The launch of this year’s GIVING TREE appeal will be at the Merchant’s Quay Shopping Centre on Friday, November 27th at 2pm.
According to Jim Burke, SVP volunteer and co-ordinator of the project, ‘The Giving Tree is a vital link in the chain of Christmas. Last year we the people of Cork gave approximately 4,500 presents which were then distributed by us to people in need. Santa would not come to some houses if it was not for this project’.
Many companies throughout the city also run ‘Giving Tree’ projects, and the gifts received are then distributed by the SVP. This project sometimes replaces the giving of gifts between colleagues in a company. If you would like your company to become involved please ring Linda at 021 4270444 and she can send tags to your company.
THE GIVING TREE at Merchant’s Quay Shopping Centre will be accepting Christmas gifts from Monday, November 30th until Tuesday, December 22nd.